Check out this crazy commercial!

TubeCoupon paid us a visit last year and filmed this video of the shop, the gallery and... me! There are some great shots of the Lou Beach, Sam Lubicz and Derek Harrison exhibitions that were on display at the time, and almost a full, two-minute highlight of La Luz de Jesus Gallery, Soap Plant and WACKO.

I think the promotion is over, but if you go to their site and print the coupon, I'll honor it. That will get you a 25% discount on any La Luz de Jesus Press publications or 20% off any Soap Plant branded bath products –great added incentive to attend the opening reception this Friday for Jason D'Aquino, GERMS, and Dave Lebow.


Previews can be accessed by clicking either their names or the poster above.

We're turning the Gallery into a Sketch Theater!

This Thursday (August 11) from 6-9 PM, La Luz de Jesus Gallery will be hosting a special book signing event for SKETCH THEATER Volume 1. This fabulous collection of quick draw artistry is something of a who's who at the crossroads of commercial illustration and gallery exhibition. You'll recognize more than a few La Luz alumni, many of whom will be here in person to sign your books (which will be in stock and available for purchase).

A full list is below, with confirmed attendees marked with an asterix*:

Aaron Sims
Aimée Kuester*
Alex Alvarez*
Alvin Lee
Amy Botello
Ana Bagayan*
Apricot Mantle*
Axel #13*
Brandi Milne*
Brian Smith*
Cameron Davis*
Charles Hu*
Chet Zar*
Chris Ryniak
Christian Lorenz-Scheurer*
The Chung *
Corey Miller
Daphne Yap*
Dave Dorman
Dave Hill
Fred Harper
Gene Guynn
Greg "Craola" Simkins*
Gris Grimly*
Jeff McMillan
Jessica Ward*
Jon Beinart
Jon Schnepp
Jordu Schell
Kali Fontecchio
Lola*
Luke Chueh*
Marc Gabbana
Mari Inukai
Marshall Vandruff *
Meats Meier *
Michael Broom*
Michael Hussar *
Miss Mindy*
Molly Crabapple
Munk One*
Nat Jones
Nate Frizzell
Nick Baxter
Nicolas Villareal
Rick O'Brien*
Ron English
S. Fisher Williams
Sam Shearon
Shawn Barber
Steven Daily*
Sze Jones
Tara McPherson
Terryl Whitlatch
Tom Baxa
Travis Louie
Wayne Barlowe

This will give you a good excuse to pop in and see the exhibition that yielded the highest attendance record of any gallery opening this season. Lou Beach, Sam Lubicz & Alpha Lubicz turned in the quintessential collection of collage art in Gallery I. And in Gallery II, there seems to be a race to see whose work will sell out first! Miso has already sold ten of her eleven exquisite mini paintings; rabid collectors snatched up twelve of Rodolfo Loaiza's sixteen, socially-critical dissections of pop-culture iconography; eleven of fourteen pieces from Jasmine Worth have red dots on the labels; and Click Mort and Jessicka Addams are each halfway to gone (he having sold nine of his eighteen, she seven of fourteen). Not far away are Walt Hall and Derek Harrison who each turned in magnificent portfolios.
Call Matt to purchase art: (323) 547-3227
Call Wacko to reserve books for mailing: (323) 663-0122

Post Comic Con Previews Now LIVE!

August is almost upon us, and with it comes one of the most anticipated exhibitions of the year. I've recently received additional images from José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros and a near full set of pics from Jessicka Addams (pictured left, with more pieces to come) so that the entire selection of Kitschen Sync Jury Winners have previews live on the website right now! Gallery II will also feature never before seen work from Walt Hall, Derek Harrison, Miso, Click Mort and Jasmine Worth.

Lou Beach sent some new images for his Gene Pool exhibition with daughter Alpha Lubicz (left) and son Sam Lubicz. Father and daughter have previews online now, Sam's will be forthcoming. This represents over twenty years of La Luz de Jesus exhibition history, as Lou first showed here back in 1988. Expect a who's who of (very) special guest attendees for this one!

Freshly back from Comicon, I'll be attending a few local lectures by the hardest working man in heroic fiction, Grant Morrison, whose many groundbreaking highlights were featured in the Pop-Sequentialism exhibit back in May. While in San Diego I ironed out the plans to travel this exhibit to Europe (Tuscanny in October, Paris soon after), before bringing it back to Los Angeles next year -with an ever changing line-up of key pieces from the Modern Age. The seeds have also been planted for an all-star Bronze Age exhibition some time in 2013. Be sure to pick-up a Show Catalog, which features over 40 essays on pieces within the inaugural presentation. Special congrats to Danni Shinya Luo for landing in a story that appeared on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune this past Sunday (the final day of Comicon). She's one of three artists (with and JJ Villard and Daniel Clowes) profiled in the currently-shooting documentary, "Comics Are Everywhere," which looks to reveal what motivates artists in their creative process. Shinya will be releasing her new book "The Girls of Danni Shinya Luo" this fall via Last Gasp Books, with a signing here at La Luz de Jesus planned to coincide with that debut. Most of her drawings will be in Rome (at the wonderful Mondo Pop gallery), but we hope she'll hang onto a few to display here while she signs. Kudos also to Karen Hsiao who earned a full-page photo feature in UK's Knave Magazine for her excellent photography tome, Rubber Duck. Karen is one of a very few people to have exhibited here under two different identities, producing wildly different artwork as each. We're thrilled to have her here next month, and we're sure that a few of her photography subjects will come to support her Miso show!

More news soon –including a sneak peek at the lineup of artists featured in La Luz de Jesus 25!

Did I mention that we're HUGE in Africa?

Mwari (pronounced Marh-ree, and translating as "Young Woman" in Swahili) Magazine is the only lifestyle publication created for women of the African Diaspora aged 18-24. Within this 152 page digital and print publication readers are exposed to captivating articles about politics, fashion, world affairs, gastronomic trends, personal finance, travel, college life, health and fitness, arts & entertainment, health, and other areas that will develop them into well-rounded leaders of our global society. In their most recent issue, Amber Stevens (pictured above) of the hit TV show Greek, selected her ten favorite places in Los Angeles, and we scored position #3!
Click the article page below to see it in context, or read the following extract:

"3. Wacko - Every once in a while I like to check out the latest artwork featured in the La Luz de Jesus Gallery at Wacko. They always have really cool, interesting stuff by Southern California artists. They also have a fun selection of books and novelty toys in the store. It's a pretty silly place but lots of fun to browse."

Readers can currently access the magazine via MwariMag.com/subscribe.html. The current circulation is 120,000, and they've recently partnered with Chapman University, University of Maryland, Northwestern University, Cleveland State University and Keuka College providing access to their entire student bodies.

Who knew?


We've also just recently posted the previews for several of the Everything But the Kitschen Sync jury winners who were brought back for expanded exhibitions in August. José Rodolfo Loaiza Ontiveros has already sold half of his show to a lucky group of determined patrons, but there are still some extraordinary paintings available. Click Mort's recombined sculpture collages are now available for purchase as are Miso and Jasmine Worth's anatomical and gothic, oil mini-paintings and Derek Harrison's exceptional contemporary nudes. We'll have previews for Walt Hall and Jessica Addams in time for Comicon, so check back to the website or email me with preview requests and purchases. The previews for the Gene Pool show, featuring new works from Lou Beach and Alpha and Sam Lubicz will be available on August 1st.